Mayors gather at chamber meeting

Published: Thursday, February 20, 2014 at 10:00 AM.

“We hope construction will start soon and will be done by April or May,” Chadwick said. “We are excited and hope this transient dock will allow people to come in, shop and spend money in Swansboro.”

Wednesday’s meeting marked the first time in several years the Swansboro Area Chamber of Commerce invited mayors to speak at its general membership meeting.

“You see your elected officials and hear their names, but this is a good opportunity to actually have face time with them,” said Executive Director Donna Hammonds. “We are just trying to start off the new year by being more inclusive and give members an update about progress so far.”

The Swansboro Area Chamber of Commerce and local mayors gathered over eggs, sausage and coffee Wednesday morning at Ribeye’s Restaurant in Cape Carteret to discuss the state of their towns at the chamber's general meeting.

Cape Carteret Mayor Dave Fowler said the town is “no longer a little sleepy town where people come to retire.” “After 50 years of being a little hamlet, we finally woke up and said we have to do something or we will fall behind the rest of the world,” he said.

The town established the Green Ribbon Committee — an economic development group that strives to create more business in the area. During an eight-month process, the committee sent out 1,700 surveys to local businesses and residents to learn what changes are most desired for the area.

“We’ve found that places like Cape Carteret, Cedar Point and others cannot fulfill all the needs of their citizens,” Fowler said. “They go to other towns, like Jacksonville or Morehead City to get basic necessities. What we want to do is make sure if our citizens need something, they don’t have to drive 30 miles to get it. We need to develop our towns economically to meet the needs of our citizens and at the same time not destroy our pristine waters and environment.”

Cedar Point Town Administrator Christ Seaberg lauded a 40,000-square-foot specialty medical facility currently under construction in the town nestled between Swansboro and Cape Carteret on N.C. 24.

“We are really excited and hope this facility will be very beneficial to the region,” Seaberg said. “Once it’s complete, folks won’t have to drive to Jacksonville or Morehead to service their needs.”

Seaberg also discussed Cedar Point’s participation in many community events, specifically highlighting the success of the Festival of Lights event held in December.

Emerald Isle Mayor Eddie Barber discussed improvements on the island, including the expected May completion of a bike path that will stretch from Coast Guard Road to the border of Salter Path.

“We are excited about our bike path, which I’m told will be finished before Memorial Day weekend,” Barber said. “We are also very pleased to say we’ve signed the contracts to finish up the storm projects, which will also be finished by the end of May.”

Barber also spoke on a proposed increase in insurance rates for the area, urging fellow chamber members to take action.

“We spoke against this increase in Raleigh and will have a public hearing in the future,” Barber said. “If this is approved, it could have a really bad impact on our community and in some cases raise insurance rates by as much as 35 percent. I hope you all make a strong effort to voice your concerns in the future.”

“We are close to fulfilling our promise of $100,000 towards the municipal park improvement plan. Friday we will have Snow Up the Park where people can play in truckloads of snow coming from Raleigh,” Chadwick said, adding the town has seen decent online traffic and gotten 600 calls about the event.

Chadwick said construction of a transient 23-boat dock near Church Street by the bridge is also in the works.

“We hope construction will start soon and will be done by April or May,” Chadwick said. “We are excited and hope this transient dock will allow people to come in, shop and spend money in Swansboro.”

Wednesday’s meeting marked the first time in several years the Swansboro Area Chamber of Commerce invited mayors to speak at its general membership meeting.

“You see your elected officials and hear their names, but this is a good opportunity to actually have face time with them,” said Executive Director Donna Hammonds. “We are just trying to start off the new year by being more inclusive and give members an update about progress so far.”